Forever is so short
by DreamerAtDawn
Summary: Darkness began to pulse around her. She woke up screaming and slammed into a hard-cold surface, her world was shrouded in darkness. I've been in the shadows for so long, let me take the lead and help you now.


Ello! ^^ Thanx for reading! On with the story!

She walked. She walked on the endless journey. Surrounded on all sides by a language she recognized but couldn't decipher she continued sown the hallway lined with script. She wanted to stop, to rest and to run her fingers along the rough surface of the text but she couldn't. Someone was calling to her, a voice she didn't recognize, and she couldn't control her feet as they trudged forward. Darkness began to pulse around her and seep in from the cracks in the walls licking at her back and slowly flooding her vision. She could move no faster and as the darkness raced past her a door appeared beautifully carved with the same golden script She reached for it and grasped the handle but her strength began to wane. She began to sink to the ground, her vision blurring. With all the strength, she had left she tried to turn the handle, it didn't budge, the door was locked. Devastated, she began to cry, she was so close to the voice she yearned to find, to learn what it wanted from her, but it was no use. She tumbled to the ground and lay at the base of the door with sobs wracking her body. She was forced to watch the threatening wisps of darkness come closer and eventually consume her before she blacked out.

Tea woke up screaming, and nothing answered her but the silence of her home. Her parents were never home so at least she didn't have to try and explain her most recent nightmares. She sighed and got out of bed to get ready for her day.

Later that afternoon Tea and her 'boys' were all at her house, they always seemed to want to come to her place but she didn't mind, they made the house feel alive again. She was smiling as she picked up their mess, some trash from the take out littered the coffee table and she was just gathering it the first time she heard it.

"Tea…"

She froze and turned towards the direction she had heard the voice come from and was stunned to see that it had come from Atem's direction, there was no way it was him, it was a woman's voice. She shook her head and chocked up hearing things to not getting enough proper sleep and continued to straighten up the room listening lightly to Atem and Joey talk about different dueling strategies.

"Tea."

The voice was louder this time, somehow stronger and it startled her into dropping the duel disk she had just picked up. The following sound was a room silencer and everyone turned to see what had happened. Yugi, who was on the phone with Rebecca, covered the receiver with one hand and offered her an expression of quizzical concern.

"Tea are you alright?"

She nodded slowly at him and glanced in Atem's direction again, entirely confused as to what was going on. Yugi hesitated.

"Are you sure?"  
She lightly smiled to reassure him and went back to what she was doing, effectively ending the conversation. Yugi shrugged and took his hand off the receiver.

"Yes, Rebecca I'm listening, your grandfather is doing better then?"

Tea tuned out the rest of the conversation not wanting cause Yugi any trouble with his new girlfriend, she smiled at that, about time.

"TEA."

She nearly jumped out of her skin, the voice had come from right behind her and she whirled around to nearly slam into Atem. He chuckled lightly as he caught her before she fell.

"Sorry didn't mean to scare you I was just going to help you with this mess we made, it's not fair for you to have to clean it all by yourself."

She smiled at him, "Thanks Atem."

So, they continued to clean in a neutral silence. Until something caught her eye, the puzzle around Atem's neck was glowing. She paused to look at it and her cease of movement caught his attention.

"Tea?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Is there ever any good reason that the puzzle should glow?"

"What?" He looked down at the puzzle and then back up at her confused. "It's not glowing."

She continued to stare at it, not really hearing what he had said, instead something compelled her to reach out for the puzzle. Once she got close a transparent hand shot out of the middle of the eye and grabbed ahold of her wrist. Surprised she jumped and tried to pull her arm away.

"What the heck let go!"

Atem was completely and utterly confused, Tea was acting so strange. The hand suddenly pulled hard on her arm yanking her forward, she slammed into a hard-cold surface and her world was shrouded in darkness. All Atem saw however was her struggling against nothing and then her eyes rolled back and she passed out. Panicked he caught her and slowly laid her on the couch behind her.

"Tea!"

When she awoke, she examined her surroundings and discovered that she was inside the puzzle, which was not good. She had only ever been in here a few times and there was never any good reason to go inside. Despite Atem discovering his memories the area was still treacherous because of all the booby traps and he still hadn't explored the entire puzzle. After being here for five thousand years and not fully uncovering all its secrets Atem was still cautious when he went inside, and now she was here alone, great. She stood up and began to carefully explore to try and find an exit. She had only opened a few doors when she heard it.

"Tea…"

She turned sharply in the direction she heard the voice, so it was inside the puzzle, and it had brought her here. She followed the new path in front of her watching for any traps and any possible markings on the doors to help her decipher which way she was going but she found none. Soon the walls began to get darker and she recognized the hallway she found herself in. She turned the corner to come face to face with the intricated door she had been dreaming about for months. She held her breath and reached for the handle, it turned, and the door swung open. She looked through it to see rustling sands and a great pyramid in the distance, it was a door to Egypt, why had she been led here?

"Tea!"

Hearing her name, she turned to see Atem running up to her, he was out of breath and disheveled by the time he made it to her. Only then did she realize just how calm she was being after everything that was happening to her, she supposed it was shock. Once he caught his breath he began speaking.

"Tea what happened? Suddenly you just passed out, why are you in here? How did you get in here? Are you hurt? What's going on?"

She raised a slender eyebrow at the rambling questions, that wasn't like him, why was he so flustered?

"I don't know…"

She turned back to look through the door again, at the beautiful shifting sand and the abstract blue sky, something about this place just lulled her into a relaxed curiosity.

"But I'm going to find out."

She stepped one foot over the threshold and suddenly she could no longer move, Atem had grabbed her wrist. She turned to question him but the words died on her lips when she saw the serious expression on his face.

"What?"

"Are you crazy you don't know what's waiting for you on the other side of that door. I've never been to this part of the puzzle it could be dangerous."

She smiled lightly, he was protective of all his friends, especially since he had been given his own body to rightfully live with them. She was feeling exceptionally bold, all her shyness around Atem seemed to have floated away with the desert breeze behind her.

"Atem you were once a great Pharaoh of Egypt, you led your people well and saved them from Zork. Right now, I have a chance to help you find a part of yourself, there must be a reason this voice is calling to me. There must be a reason you can't hear her. I've been in the shadows for so long, let me take the lead and help you now. I intend to answer her, you can come with me or stay here if you want."

He was silent for a few moments before he sighed. "alright then let's go."

She smiled brilliantly at him and walked carefully over the threshold, the moment she was fully on the sand however, something happened. A strong gust of wind blew between them, she was thrown onto the sand and he was tossed back into the dark corridor. She looked up just in time to see his surprised expression as the door slammed between them. Seconds later another gust of wind blew past and the door disintegrated slowly from top to bottom like it was made of dust. Just like that she was alone.

"Tea…"

A/N: I own nothing

Review plz!


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